Hampton PTA holds emotional town hall on controversial raises

The Hampton PTA holds a town hall meeting so teachers and the public can voice concerns over recent administration raises.

The Hampton PTA holds a town hall meeting so teachers and the public can voice concerns over recent administration raises.

Austin Bogues, abogues@dailypress.com

HAMPTON — Teachers, parents and elected officials gathered for an emotional and at times boisterous meeting to discuss controversial pay raises received by school administrators.

The forum, held at City Hall and hosted by the Hampton PTA, focused on the more than $30,000 in equity raises received quietly by several members of the school division's leadership team in June.

The raises were given as the school division had to make drastic cuts, including outsourcing janitorial staff, to balance its $196 million budget. The school division also received supplemental funding from the city, including a $500,00 cash advance on revenue the city expects to receive next year.

The raises, referred to as "equity adjustments," were passed unanimously by the School Board at a June meeting as part of the consent agenda, a portion of the meeting that generally does not produce a lot of discussion. PTA president Pam Croom criticized the raises earlier this month in an email sent out to members, saying they were not appropriate.

School Board members didn't take any questions or make comments at the meeting. But Hampton City Schools Superintendent Linda Shifflette addressed the more than 100 people gathered, saying that reduced state funding has played a large role in the amount of cuts made in recent years. Shifflette said that equity raises have been commonplace in the school division.

"As we make decisions related to our budget and the running of Hampton City Schools, there are many factors that go into them," she said. "We've lost $23.3 million in state aid, that is a tremendous amount of money. We could use that to do so many things in Hampton City Schools," she said.

Dozens of speakers from the community lined up to offer comments.

"I don't think I've ever seen a time where my colleagues are more desperate and more discouraged," said Melissa Twisdale, who works a reading specialist for the school division. At one point, she started to choke back tears.

"We are not against the equity raises that were given, I guess what bothers us is we are confused, we don't understand your vision. Many of the decisions that have been made have left many of us feeling misunderstood," Twisdale said.

Julie Back, a science teacher at Kecoughtan High School, said that because of the budget cuts, teachers are increasingly reaching into their own pockets to fund school supplies such as pencils and paper for their students. "I had students who had very deep needs. They could not purchase notebooks. That was causing them to do very poorly in class," she said. "I fully believe the salaries people are earning they probably deserve," Back said. "The question I would like for everyone to be thinking as we move to the future is: Do you know how many pencils $30,000 would buy?" The room burst into applause.

David Dietrich, a frequent Hampton City Schools critic, who ran unsuccessfully for the School Board in May, said he felt more questions needed to be asked. "I think that this school system, the School Board and the administration have really violated a public trust by what's going on here," Dietrich said.

"I understand they work hard for their money, they deserve the money they get," said Rebecca Henderson, who is a parent of school-age children. "But our teachers, our other support staff have not received anything in a very long time that makes a difference in their paycheck," she said.

Not all comments were critical. One man, who identified himself as a small business owner from Williamsburg, said he was impressed that the community had gathered to discuss the sensitive issue. After the meeting, School Board member Joe Kilgore said he "appreciated the opportunity" Croom and the PTA gave the community. When Kilgore was asked if it was difficult to hear some of the sharp criticism he replied, "No, not at all."